Last month’s theme title, ‘Reese’s Cups’, is the same name as my favorite candy bar. Of course the article wasn’t about chocolate, but you’ll have to go back and read it to see what the article was about. One of my go to foods in a pinch has always been Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It doesn’t take long to prepare, throw in a can of tuna and some frozen peas and you have a complete meal. Like all things, when you go to the grocery store, you can always find a generic brand. I’m a mac & cheese purist though and really feel that nothing is better than the original. This month’s ‘Knock Offs’ Spotify Playlist isn’t about pasta, but songs that were redone where the redone version is as good as or better than the original. For my Spotify list, I am including both the original and the cover.
When doing the research for this article, I was surprised that some of the songs that were remakes weren’t the original version. For example Anne Bredon originally wrote Led Zeppelin’s ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’. In fact, Jimmy Page’s (of Led Zeppelin) arrangement was the 7th version of the song. In some circles the number 7 is considered a perfect number. For me, the Led Zeppelin version is as close to perfection as you can get. I could not find the original version on Spotify, so here is what I found on Youtube.
Another surprise for me was the Santana song ‘Black Magic Woman’. Being a Fleetwood Mac fan, I hadn’t realized that they released the original version of the song as a single two years earlier. Even though Fleetwood Mac did the original, it did not have the success of Santana’s version which hit #4 on the charts in the US. Not knowing this was a remake, I obviously had to go back and check out the original. The melodies were similar between the two songs, but I personally preferred the Santana musical arrangement.
Conversely there were songs on this month’s playlist that I knew were remakes. Leonard Cohen originally did one such song, Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’. I knew that this song had been covered by other artists, but hadn’t realized just how many. Since 1991, at least 300 different artists have performed versions of the song. I enjoy Buckley’s guitar intro and arrangement of this song better than the original Leonard Cohen version.
Another remake on my playlist is of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ that was remade by Ellie Goulding. I wouldn’t say that Goulding’s version is better than Elton John’s version, but I did enjoy hearing her version just as much as I enjoyed the original.
I feel I could talk about every song this month, but the song I’m choosing is Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’. Pretty much everyone knows the original was performed by Nine Inch Nails. But if you didn’t know that, I’d encourage you to read the ‘Hurt’ article as well as watch the video. I am featuring this song, not because I love the song, which I do, but because it reminds me of my father. My father was a lover of classic country and western music. If it wasn’t Sunday, which was polka time, he was listening to the big country names of the time. Singers like Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and of course Johnny Cash were regulars on the radio. To him there were no other options. If you weren’t listening to country, then he’d taunt you by asking, ‘What the heck are you listening to?’ I wasn’t a country fan by any stretch of the imagination. But being brought up in our household, I did develop an appreciation of that genre of music. I’m not sure if I would have appreciated the Johnny Cash version of ‘Hurt’ as a teen, but ironically I can picture it playing on my father’s car radio.
Are there any song remakes that you enjoy as much or more than the original? More importantly, what is that one food that if you don’t have the name brand you want no parts of it? Check back next month when my October theme is ‘Pretty In Pink’.
open.spotify.com/playlist/7fKwUFA7JSxDTfvGTMN1l0?si=TRSjYCRjRHGgSigY5WqHgA